Assignment 4 – Lessons from the Classroom

(750 to 1000 words)

Aims:​ to successfully identify own strengths and weaknesses, to suggest development needs,
to reflect upon own teaching and how it may be affected by the observation of other teachers.

You are going to write an essay about the lessons you have learned in your CELTA course. In
your assignment you should cover all of the areas below:

a. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES​ – identify two strengths in your own teaching and two
areas that need development. Refer to the reflection about your own lessons, your tutors’ and
peers’ feedback and the response you got from learners. Illustrate your points with instances
from your Teaching Practice.

b. OBSERVATIONS​ – describe what you have learned from observing your peers during the
course and experienced teachers. Remember to use concrete examples from your observations
to explain your conclusions in further detail.

c. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT​ – identify three areas that you would like to develop in.
Make sure you include both teaching skills and knowledge about TEFL/the language. Describe
how you intend to develop in these three areas – be as specific and real as possible.
Remember to mention the final word count.
 CELTA Written Assignment 4
Lessons from the classroom - ​Cover Sheet
Name:
Date: BR020 C7.2018

Assessment Criteria
For this assignment, candidates can demonstrate their learning by:
a. Noting their own teaching strengths and weaknesses in different situation in light of feedback from learners,
teachers and teacher educators.
b. Identifying which ELT areas of knowledge and skills they need further development in.
c. Describing in a specific way how they might develop their ELT knowledge and skills beyond the course.
d. Using written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task.
Reference: CELTA Syllabus and Assessment Guidelines

​Does the assignment... You ​Overall

a. identify two strengths with examples? X

b. identify two weaknesses with examples? X

c. describe what was learned from the observation of other X

d. highlight three areas for improvement? X

e. provide reasons for the areas chosen? X

f. provide a concrete action plan on how to develop in these X

Is the assignment complete? i.e. answers all sections, and

Does the assignment use language which is clear and coherent,

Is the assignment presented clearly? X

X
Is the assignment presented clearly?

Overall Comments:

Tutor (1​st ​reader): Date: / /

Tutor (2​nd ​reader): Date: / /

I declare that this assignment represents my own work. I have not copied from the work of other

students and I have not allowed or enabled others to copy from my work.

Trainee Name:

Signature:​ ___________________________________________________

Date​: ___________________________________________________
a. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

I have been teaching for 8 years, but only recently I have had the chance to delve into the
complexities of the teaching career. Before taking CELTA my only teaching training experience
came from the PTTC in Cultura Inglesa, which was a turning point in my life. Based on the
feedback from colleagues, managers and tutors, I have been able to identify a few personal
strengths as a teacher.

Rapport​: From the very beginning of CELTA TPs my tutors have pointed out that rapport is a
strength, as I am able to quickly establish it with students and they all seem to respond very well
to all the proposed activities, which is an indication that they trust the guidance of the teacher.
Besides that, learners frequently approach me to ask questions, signaling that they feel
comfortable enough to ask questions without feeling embarrassed.

Staging​: I am able to efficiently plan the stages of a lesson in a logical and suitable way in order
to achieve my lesson objective. Clear staging is something that have helped me immensely in
making decisions that contributed to several of the lessons’ success, one evidence of this is that I
have always been able to achieve the established objective.

On the other hand I have also been able to identify some areas for improvement, such as:

Time management:​ This is an aspect that has been rather inconsistent in my lessons, in some
of my TPs I have been able to cover everything that had been planned, but in others I was
pressed for time and ended up either having to adapt or remove some activities to be able to
reach the LO. Overall this seems to be a combination of allocating adequate time for certain
activities and delivering the lesson in a brisker pace in early stages.

Feedback on the spot​: I tend to favour giving delayed feedback to the students, but to
implement more on the spot feedback could also be beneficial, this would help making the
outcome of the lesson more thoroughly scaffolded, and students would have more opportunities
to implement corrections and work on accuracy in all stages of the lesson.

b. OBSERVATIONS

Throughout CELTA I have been in contact with several amazing professionals: tutors, peers and
experienced teachers from different branches. Observing their lessons I was able to learn several
important things, including:

1-I had the opportunity to observe Angélica from the Santana branch in an advanced group, I
was really surprised by how effective her time management was. She was able to seamlessly
work with a listening and a reading activity to develop receptive skills. It was done in a manner
that posed an adequate challenge for the students, but making sure that they were actively
developing strategies for both skills. The way students reacted seemed to show that Angélica has
worked very consistently with said skills and has instilled the learner with the necessary tools for
the task.
2- During one of our TPs I also had the chance to observe a peer that had planned a warmer for
a group of basic students. Unfortunately he did not take into consideration the complexity of the
task in relation to the group profile. As a consequence, the activity lasted for around 15 minutes,
when it was supposed to have taken around 5. He did not have enough time to go through what
had been planned and the lesson ended up being rushed and incomplete. This made me aware
of how important is it to take into consideration group profile and level when designing a task,
because even something as simple as a warmer can cause a snowball effect in the following
stages of the lesson.

c. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Having identified some opportunities for improvement in my practices as a teacher, for the future
I plan to:

1- Continue observing more experienced peers. This has proven to be a useful way to learn new
teaching techniques, as well as to get in touch with many creative and alternative practices that I
might take years to develop on my own. Moreover, observing real lessons will help me to get
acquainted with different students and to observe how experienced teachers are able to
personalize their lessons to better fit their profile. Furthermore, I plan to focus my observations on
how to give feedback in a wide variety of ways, what will surely help me with some shortcomings
identified in my TPs.

2- Besides that I plan to get more involved with the BrELT community, it is a great way to stay up
to date with the most current discussions in the teaching world, as well as take part in several
events throughout the year. This initiative might help widen my knowledge of trends and
techniques that are adequate to a constantly developing scenario. This might also allow me to
make more informed decisions not only related to my teaching practices, as well as understand
the many possibilities branching from the teaching career.

3- I believe that self-study is paramount for a teacher, having this in mind I plan to read two books
that can give me a great insight of teaching practices, in particular those in which I have struggled
through the CELTA course. ​Learning Teaching b ​ y Jim Scrivener is considered one of the most
successful guides for the practice of teaching, paired with ​How to Teach English​ by Jeremy
Harmer​, with focus on practical issues and it is appropriate for self-study, its description of
specific teaching methods, particularly in relation to the four skills, might prove to be a great tool
for me to acquire a more in-depth knowledge of several topics covered in CELTA input sessions.

I hope that these initial steps will lead to further reflections and they will surely make me aware of
new areas to explore. As I become a more experienced teacher I plan to invest in other teaching
awards such as an ICELT equivalent, and a DELTA in upcoming years.

Word count: 1000